Never walk into a room and forget why, again, with these 20 tips for a sharp memory

You would think absent-mindedness happens only to the elderly. Not true. Recent studies of healthy adults have found that the average number of memory slips – like putting the TV remote on the microwave – was around six per week, irrespective of age, gender and intelligence. Remembering is an active process and making the most of your memory involves paying better attention, planning and organising. Here’s how to do that:

Make associations

If a joke is learned in the presence of a particular smell, that same aroma may cue the memory for that joke. So students giving for an exam should visualise the place in which they were studying.

Clench your fist

Sounds strange, but balling up your right hand and squeezing it tightly makes it easier to memorise phone numbers or shopping lists. When you want to remember, clench the left fist. The movements activate brain regions key to the storing and recall of memories.

Learn before bed

One of the best ways to consolidate memories is to go through what you want to remember just before going to sleep. That’s because there are fewer recent memories to interfere, and so you will remember it better the next day.

Drink more milk

Scientists asked 972 people to fill in detailed surveys on their diets and to complete tests for their concentration, memory and learning abilities. Adults who consumed dairy products five or six times a week did far better than those who rarely ate or drank them.

Exercise more

Several studies have shown that aerobic exercise is good at enhancing memory. Exercise also encourages the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus – an area of the brain important in memory.

Wiggle your eyes

Wiggling your eyes from side to side for 30 seconds can boost concentration. The left and right sides of the brain perform different functions and improving communication between them can bolster mental performance. Scientists at Manchester Metropolitan University got volunteers to listen to recordings of words then either wiggle their eyes horizontally for 30 seconds, vertically for 30 seconds, or just stare ahead. The horizontal movement group recalled more words than the other two.

Say it out loud

This is the easiest of all. Saying what you want to remember out loud – or even mouthing it – will help with recall.

Break up numbers

It’s called ‘chunking’. Take a phone number, for instance. Break 8765990743 into 876 599 074 3, or another sequence you prefer. It also helps to do this according to something you can relate to, like the age of someone you know, an address or a famous date.

Quit smoking

It can cause significant damage to your memory, say researchers at Northumbria University. When 69 students aged 18 to 25, were asked to memorise a list of tasks, those who had never smoked did best, remembering to complete 81 per cent of the tasks. The smokers managed to get through only 59 per cent. A separate study at King’s College London found that middle-aged smokers performed less well on tests compared with those without the tobacco habit.

Take a cue

If there’s something you have to do every day at a specific time and often forget, use a technique called implementation intentions. For example, tell yourself that you will take your medication along with breakfast, or drink water with dinner.

Use imagery

Mnemonics – or memory aids – use imagery. The more bizarre and detailed, the better.

Drink green tea

Chinese researchers say regularly drinking it could improve your memory and delay the onset of Alzheimer’s thanks to its antioxidant that protect against age-related degenerative illnesses.

Learn another language

Learning a foreign language can boost the brain – even as an adult. Research carried out at Edinburgh University found verbal fluency and intelligence improved in 262 people who took on another tongue. Other studies have even hinted that being bilingual can delay the onset of dementia by several years, even in those who learnt it later in life.

Look at nature

A US study found people who walked around an arboretum did 20 per cent better on a memory test than those who walked around streets. Just looking at pictures of nature can have a beneficial effect.

Eat chocolate

Eating chocolate can improve your memory, said Oxford University scientists, who tested 2,000 volunteers. A separate study at Northumbria University found people given large amounts of flavonols, a compound found in chocolate, found mental arithmetic much easier.

Sleep enough

Good sleep triggers changes in the brain that help to improve memory. The findings, by experts at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in the US, came from MRI scans on volunteers’ brains to see which parts are activated after a good night’s rest. Sleep helps new memories to ‘stick’ in the brain. This happens when connections between brain cells are strengthened by proper rest.

Visualise your actions

If you’re watching TV and remember you need to close the bedroom window, think of the curtains flapping. Once you have paused to form the vivid ­association between the room and the reason you are going there, go straight there.

Have a hobby

Developing an interest that stimulate the mind and body can help with memory loss.

Listen to music

Did you know music has a beneficial effect on sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease? Music with strong rhythms and patterns – like reggae and salsa – are best for memory and problem-solving.

Doodle

In memory tests, doodlers performed 29 per cent better than non-doodlers when asked to recall names and places, Plymouth University researchers found. Doodling allows us to concentrate on the task in hand.

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